So.. here’s the way the rest of my cottage week went.
On Friday afternoon I will be heading to Catherine’s.. She invited me up with all the ladies who were in her bridal party, less Lindsay of course. The only reason I was not in her bridal party was cuz Rob would not even allow me to go to the wedding despite her last minute invite. – yrs, she told me that if I said I’d come, she would immediately promote me to bridesmaid.
Ok… So camping at her Cottage.. apparently I’m the only one able to tent it.. “eyeroll* Cath & Meagan are in her in law:s room. One girl’s in Cath & Brett’s room, one is on the pull out couch & one has refused to come.
She eanted a girl’s weekend & since Meagan leaves for Calgary, permanently next weekend, it had to be this weekend, my weekend
i sm not sure how this weekend will go.. I don’t know Natasha very well. I haven’t seen Nancy in about 20 years. I know Cath was a basket case when Li dsay left -;dunno what’ll happen with Meagan even tho Lindsay was her favourite. )Meag was her dad’s favourite, but he’s turned into a complete dickhead – doubt he’ll see her before she goes)
& its my birthday weekend.. so God only knows what’ll happen then.. last year I went to bed early when she wanted to do cake & pressies. Mind you I had a partner with me that weekend and he fell asleep at the campfire.. lol.
Previously, i had posted about my pain physician limiting my physical activities – not allowed to go to Cub/Scout camp. . I wrote about why & here’s a quick summary from the post
My pain was creeping up and Iwasn’t doing anything to rest. After spiking again last weekend, I had a regularly scheduled appointment with my pain doc. She reviewed my comments & my paperwork and we had a discussion She said that I was overdoing it & if I kept pushing I was going to significantly hurt myself, possibly slamming right out of my semi-remission. So, she said “No, you are not to go.”
My Pain Doctor *ordered* me to not go to Cub/Scout Camp.
So my Doctor said no, & I’m glad she did! Cuz she was right.
Last Thursday I helped the Howlers clean off the canoes so they could use them. (We don’t wanna contaminate the algae or other slime or bugs of one body of water to a new environment)
On Friday afternoon I helped get everyone off, including the trailers for the canoes & equipment.
Cubs At Camp
On Saturday, I finally woke at 10am on 6 hours sleep cuz my pain was keeping me up. Unfortunately, I woke in more pain than I fell asleep in.
i have a pattern – I feel worse first thing & feel good until I approach bed time.. I hurt in the morning because I’m still – I haven’t been moving or stimulating my muscles while I sleep unless of my restless legs are keeping me up of course. When bedtime approaches, I start too slow down and that makes me more aware of my body and the pain and inflammation that I’ve been ignoring comes to light. I have always been like this as a kid – I would be ill, but better in the evenings & want to go to guides or soccer or dance…
Instead of Cub Camp, Saturday activities ended up included folding laundry and reading a book in the lounger in the backyard. Not alot of activity.
So I went to bed on Saturday night in lots of pain. Woke up Sunday with lots of pain.
Sunday required me to pack for the cottage, which was fun..it took me several hours to get my stuff organized & packed (yet still left swimsuits at home).. Imagine, had I gone to camp, how much pain I would be in. Packing up Sunday morning and making a 4 hour drive home, then unpacking equipment at our storage area. Afterwards, add in me trying to unpack from camp, do some laundry and then repack for the cottage all in a few hours then drive almost 2 hours up here..
imagine if I had tried to do camp, I would not have been able to pack for the cottage, let alone make it here for at least 2 days, possibly up to 4 or 5..
So, as the days have progressed, I’m having to be careful.. We (Lilly & I) ran errands on Tuesday, and spontaneously stopped at a local conservation area to take the pup for a walk (6 km later we are both dying) .. I walked around in the cool lake water to help the pain and heat in my leggs as well as a quick dip for Lil for that & heat relief… It helped a bit..
We took Wednesday easy.. Went about 500m in the kayak before I remembered I had a webinar in 20 minutes! & that was my exercise.. And yesterday I crashed out.. not even making it outta bed until 7 – in the evening..
So while, besides yesterday, I’m doing “ok”.. I was managing pain at about a 4/10. Imagine where I would have been had I gone to camp.. Besides packing, I’d be driving 4 hours to the camp ground, help set up three sites, including tents, kitchens and shelter. Poor sleep Friday night would almost be a given, but up between 7am & 8am for breakfast & on my feet going all day, including canoeing with the kids, hiking, games, skills training, archery, helping with 3 meals a day in some capacity, etc. No breaks, no stops, no naps untill after campfire, if I made it that long, starting at 9:30-10pm start.. so in bed for midnight.
Cubs & Scouts Camping c at Camp Impressa
Sunday would have consisted of breakfast & packing the equipment all up & reorganizing the trailer. Then the 4 hour drive back as I mentioned earlier..
if you add all that activity on minimum sleep, are you really all that surprised that I would have crashed on Monday. Which I kind of did anyways just from packing up with the cottage.. if without that activity my pain levels are at a 4, maybe 5. Imagine what level I would have been at had I actually participated. I figure probably near 9/10 and I tend to go to the ER between the levels of 7 and 8!
Normally, if I’m ‘well’ I can do camp Friday – Sunday, then crash for 2 days.. but I can normally make it through camp.. but I wasn’t starting at ‘well’..
So, yeah I am so glad my pain doc ordered me to stay home..
Yes, I can go camping with Fibro. It borders on Glamping, but I’m still in the outdoors, in my tent & cooking out on a stove. And yes, I have gone camping twice this summer, so far with at least one more weekend planned
I have had to make many modifications to how I can camp.
I am no longer able to go backpacking. I would not be able to handle the weight I’d have to carry mile after mile.. In my teens, I had gone up to the back country of Algonquin, spending several days out in the wilds with friends. That’s not happening anymore. The mind is willing, but the body’s not even gonna consider it! Lol.
I have had to upgrade from a 2-person hiking tent to a a 4-person, 3-season tent. I can no longer sleep on the ground, on thin mats, bubble pads or wood flooring like at Camp Adelaide. I now have a double high queen size air mattress that I use. I have a fitted sheet on it & depending on the weather 1-2 sleeping bags & my Lilly blanket. I also have a pillow that I use exclusively for camping.
My camp setup for virtual Cuboree
I have borrowed a camp stove from one of my cub packs (yes, the pack knows). It connects to the smaller green propane tanks, not a big 20lber. It is not one that requires you to prime it, cuz I find that one difficult. But also does use the huge tanks either so I don’t have to move that either. In addition I recently purchased my own stove used. I still need to clean it & test it tho.
I can light a propane lantern both on the green tanks & the big white ones. I’m lazy & cheap so I only use a small battery-operated portable one & my handy dandy flashlight. Blessed with good night sight, I don’t usually need a light source to sneak off to the bathroom at 2 in the morning.
I recently purchased an small indoor/outdoor table to use camping & at in-person & outdoor cub events. I am not sitting on the ground to cook or prep. With COVID, we can not share the picnic table with others right now, so I need my own table.
As some of y’all know, I have a long sleep cycle, and I’m sure your curious how I do that camping. Easy: ear plugs, & sleep mask. With my Cubs, I have our SiTs do breakfast, but otherwise, I suck it up. I know I will crash out during the week, but it is worth it.
My pink sleep mask (I have 3) & a pair is standard orange ear plugs.
To sit, I bring lawn chairs. My butt is too big & my balance to horrible to be able to get in an actual camp chair, handmade or store bought. Add to the fact that they are barely off the ground, with some I’d have to get on the ground to get up! Lol
This is what my current campfire chair looks like, but with thicker wood .. Made it in Rover Scouts.
Swimming? Heaven! The water is a blessing. Yes, not everywhere has water, but I camp at my bff’s cottage so there’s water there. Our cottage is also on a lake.. I enjoy the cool lake as it’s refreshing, especially on warm day.
I make sure I take all my medications, as prescribed at the appropriate time. I also bring sufficient extra medications, especially the PRN meds cuz you never know when you’ll need them. In addition to the regular meds I also bring my A535 & the Voltaran cuz again, you never know.
Are there other aspects of camping that I’m missing? Let me know & I will tell you how I deal with them!
My parents have a cottage up NE of Peterborough Ontario. Their shore line is comprised of layered stones both above & below the dock.
This summer I got a brilliant idea for the week I had the cottage to myself. I decided to paint these rocks. My Cubs had gotten me started on painting rocks this summer. I found it so relaxing – therapeutic even… But these ones are a little different, I didn’t paint the full rock, I just added a word to each stone. With a good selection of colours, it’s quite pretty..
The left side of the dock. Yes, there are spelling errors that have since been corrected.
I apparently can’t spell or my Fibro Fog kicked in while I was there. I am aware of several spelling errors on these rocks. I went back up recently & corrected all mistakes I am aware of. Was unable to really add much as the dock has been pulled in for the summer..
The stones do have a sealer on them, so hopefully the will last to next year. If not I can redo them. But if I get additional words of positivity & inspiration I can start filling in the other side, as this in only half the wall. The other half is to the right, right of the stairs.
Do you have suggestions for additional words I can use? I know Justice isn’t there yet.. anything else??
I also did completely cover some of the rocks around the firepit before I added words…
Here in Ontario Canada,The first long weekend in August is the Civic Holiday, or Simcoe Day, depending on who you talk to.
My plans? Cottage hoping. I’m hoping to head out early & stop in at my BFF’s place for a few hours.. She’s already up there on vacation & I’m usually up there camping this weekend anyways. So COVID is limiting our visits..
View of the Lake from the deck
From there, I’ll be headed to the family cottage for a few quiet days.. gonna take some books, and bathing suits & Lilly’s life jacket. Have a quiet enjoyable weekend..
Not a huge fan of swimming but she can & does do it.. I think she’s getting used to it & even starting to enjoy it..
I’ve also recently reconnected with a former friend & we’re supposed to go out for coffee. I think he’s nearthe cottage & if so, I might be able to schedule a social distance coffee..
As usual, I will take my Chromebook with me, but not sure if I’ll actually use it. I rarely do.
Fibromyalgia 
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